Changing K12 Student Passwords and other Anomalies

I teach in a 6-8 grade level and I use Course Sites to manage my classes. I have done so for over 5 years with very few issues.

Enrolling students in the New Course Sites is an outrageous mess. Why did Bb do away with batch enrollment?

The process of registering through the course link requires too much demand on students especially the special ed student who can't remember a 10 character password with a special character.

Registrering students one at a time - over 100 students - is a time consuming activity. My students change every nine weeks. It would take 3-4 days of uninterrupted time to register them each nine weeks.

The batch enrollment option killed it in the old version - less than 45 minutes to set up all 5 of my classes including downloading the class list from my student grading program!!

In addition, I found that in the class list, I CAN change a student's password to a simpler version. That was great but I cannot do this in ALL my classes. One class says successful the next says "you are either not signed in or you do not have permissions". It's the same course list I have when signed in but it doesn't work for that course!!

I tried to reach support but all me emails are bouncing back (see another forum post) and the chat access is always "offline".

I am flummoxed and ready to jump off a bridge!! Three weeks of dealing with getting students into Bb - hours of wasted instruction time- is almost not worth it. I am in my last year. I am about to go back to pencil and paper!

I did read that entry before I posted. I understand change happens but the takeaway I got from this blog is - it is now easier for Blackboard to make updates and Blackboard has streamlined the support system. So for teachers who have been successful with Course Sites for more than 5 years, will have a way to deal with the confusion and changes but success is on your own.

I have 5 classes that change every 9 weeks. I won't go through this confusion again. These changes are good for the college level but they have done nothing for K12. I have lost teaching time. fumbled with vague entry points and student confusion on a severe level. I understand this is a freebe. And I get that since I am not a paying customer, I get what I get and am left to figure it out.

But I also understand now why several of our institutions in Virginia are moving to Canvas. I always loved Blackboard but it has lost my passion and support. My job is to teach not to trouble shoot and I have spent too much time trouble shooting.

I have two students who get in one day and not the next and it happens over and over in all my classes.